The Patriot Ledger of Quincy (Mass.), Oct. 20:
This week we bring you three stories of hope for the economy and our pocketbooks.
No. 1: Jobless benefits lowest since 2000
Yes, we’re wonking out here. That’s because it’s been years since the Labor Department issued such an unequivocally positive unemployment report. It announced the national unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 percent, the lowest in six long years. Also, weekly applications for unemployment aid fell 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 264,000.
For those familiar with the jobless reports, the statement was positively gleeful: “This is the lowest level for initial claims since April 15, 2000, when it was 259,000. … There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.”
What this means is that while the economy is still struggling, it may be waking from its malaise and beginning to flex its muscle.
Other signs of strength in the market, according to The New York Times, are a manufacturing output that is up nearly 4 percent over last year, and an improvement in production of furniture, clothing and computers. In other words, people have cash in their pockets to buy stuff.
We’re not breaking out the champagne yet, but this report is cause for cautious optimism.
No. 2: Gas below $3 at the pump
Forget the wonkish analysis of the state of the economy; there’s one thing everyone gets and that’s the price at the pump. It hasn’t been this low in nearly four years.
The state average was $3.26 last week, but the South Shore was more in line with the national average of $3.19. Some local stations dropped their prices below $3. Prime in Whitman hit a delightful $2.87. We imagine they were very busy.
Seeing that kind of immediate savings is welcome news to the many who’ve been watching every nickel and dime for far too long. That extra $20, $30, $40 a month in savings can now be reinvested in the local economy ”“ or into savings.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
No. 3: Fed chief speaks about income inequality
In a speech in Boston, the newly-appointed head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, used her impressive bully pulpit to address the growing income inequality in America. She surprised everyone.
Signaling what may be a shift in the way the Federal Reserve has unintentionally contributed to the rise in wealth disparity, Yellen said, “I think it is appropriate to ask whether this trend is compatible with values rooted in our nation’s history, among them the high value Americans have traditionally placed on equality of opportunity.”
In her speech, Yellen said the gap is the worst it’s been in a century and perhaps in American history. Many economists now believe that income inequality is the reason for the lackluster economic recovery. The rich amass their wealth and hold onto it, the theory goes, whereas middle-class people spend theirs and spending is the fuel to make the economic engine run.
While Yellen didn’t offer any solutions, her acknowledgement of the problem and overall tone suggest someone in a position to effect real change for the middle-class may finally do just that.
The Providence (R.I.) Journal, Oct. 23:
In awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the selection committee reached across a tired and bitter divide. It split the honor between a Pakistani teenager, Malala Yousafzai, and an Indian activist, 60-year-old Kailash Satyarthi. The winners’ homelands have been in conflict since 1947, when partition created two separate nations. Tensions continue today, particularly in the disputed border region of Kashmir.
Yousafzai, a Muslim, and Satyarthi, who is Hindu, are united by their quests to improve the lives of children. In dividing the prize between them, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has prodded people across the world to embrace their common humanity. Bettering the lot of children is a means of transcending political and religious differences. It can also help dilute the forces of extremism.
Though only 17, Yousafzai is by far the better known of the two prize winners. In 2012, a would-be Taliban assassin boarded her school bus and fired a bullet into her head, very nearly killing her. In her hometown of Mingora, she had been an outspoken advocate for the education of girls since the age of 11. At the time, Taliban extremists were terrorizing residents and threatening girls’ schools with destruction.
Satyarthi has been involved for decades in efforts to end child slavery and exploitive child labor practices. His Save the Childhood Movement is credited with helping to rescue tens of thousands of children from harsh working conditions, bondage and sexual trafficking.
India and Pakistan are far from the only countries where children are abused, or denied the opportunity to thrive. Over the past year, too many have suffered the horrors of war and violence, in places as diverse as Syria, Gaza and Nigeria. As the Nobel committee noted, such children grow up in danger of perpetuating the horrors they have witnessed. Education and the chance for useful work can halt the cycle.
Yousafzai was saved by doctors in Great Britain, and has remained there, in school, since she was attacked. She has also continued her now-global crusade for education. She was in chemistry class when it was announced that she had won the prize, and elected to complete her school day before addressing the media.
“This award is for all those children who are voiceless,” she noted, stressing the right of girls and boys alike to go to school.
“A lot of work still remains, but I will see the end of child labor in my lifetime,” Satyarthi predicted. By elevating the rights of children, the Nobel committee has laid out a novel but compelling route to peace.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
